1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a printing apparatus and a printing method.
2. Related Art
In the related art, a printing apparatus that has a “power-saving mode” which is aimed at reducing power consumption is known. The power-saving mode means a state to which the printing apparatus automatically transitions when a power switch of the printing apparatus turns on and no operation (or the like) is performed by a user for a certain period of time. In addition to the power-saving mode, states of the printing apparatus include a state of a “power-off mode” in which the power switch turns off and a state of an “operation mode” in which the power switch turns on and an operation of an operation panel by a user, a printing process, or the like is performed.
The transition to each of the modes causes a start process of each of the modes to be performed. For example, an initialization operation for printing preparation is performed in the start process of the operation mode. JP-A-2011-37109 discloses a printing apparatus in which an initialization operation of an operation mode when transitioning from a power-saving mode is more simply performed than an initialization operation of the operation mode when transitioning from a power-off mode. Accordingly, a power saving effect is further heightened as compared to the related art.
Specifically, JP-A-2011-37109 discloses a control method in which a home-seek operation (which is an initialization operation of a carriage (recording head) position) is omitted in the start process of the operation mode when transitioning from the power-saving mode.
However, should a manual user operation (or the like) cause a carriage to move during the power-saving mode, printing is performed with the carriage position as it was prior to the movement. Therefore, there is concern that the printing may not be performed at an accurate position. Accordingly, there is further a concern that a user might repeatedly turn the power off and on with that aim of preventing printing at the inaccurate location, thereby causing the home-seek operation to be repeatedly performed.
In addition, there is a method in which an existing encoder (which monitors the position of the carriage during the power-saving mode) is operated to detect shifting of the position of the carriage. However, this results in an increase in power consumption during the power-saving mode and thus is inappropriate to realize the method.